


Happy and Safe

by respoftw



Series: Tumblr Prompts - Hawksilver edition [50]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bullying, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-25
Updated: 2015-07-25
Packaged: 2018-04-11 05:04:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4422458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/respoftw/pseuds/respoftw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anonymous Prompt:</p>
<p>Pietro is getting bullied by one of the trainers at SHIELD/Gym and doesn't say anything even when the trainer starts to get inappropriate. Clint finds out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy and Safe

_Wanda is happy. Wanda is safe._

 

It's his mantra, the muttered words that are capable of allowing him to endure whatever life wants to throw at him. Nothing else matters as long as his mantra holds true and here, with the Avengers, finally on the right side of the fight, it's never been more true.

 

Pietro knows that Wanda is more powerful than him, stronger than him, better than him. Hell, he'd known it even before Strucker and List's experiments made it obvious to the rest of the world, back when it was just the two of them struggling to survive, Pietro struggling to look out for her, but their time with HYDRA had made it clear.

 

Sometimes he thinks that they had been _too_ successful when it came to Wanda. Too much power, too little control. Wanda was untouchable. It's a good thing that they had Pietro, really.

 

Pietro had taken whatever they dreamt up for him. For her. His sister may not have been happy but he was willing to do whatever it took to make sure she stayed safe.

 

Wanda is still untouchable, Pietro will always be the weaker twin, the easier mark. He'd hoped that wouldn't be an issue now that they were with SHIELD, now that they were Avengers but he'd forgotten the countless SHIELD agents dead at HYDRA's hands, the agents dead at his hand.

 

Others hadn't forgotten. One in particular still remembered what the twins had done.

 

Greg was a SHIELD agent, one of the best and brightest, hand-picked by Steve Rogers himself to help train the new Avengers. The fact that these new recruits included the Maximoff twins sickened him. Wanda was untouchable, he knew that, but Pietro was fair game.

 

It had started softly. Greg was maybe just that bit harder on Pietro than the others during their training, barely noticeable beyond Sam cracking a joke wondering what Pietro had done to piss the guy off. Greg stopped training the group after that, instead manipulating Steve into assigning Pietro to him for more intensive one-on-one training.

 

“He has trouble focusing, Captain. I think taking him out of the Group and really concentrating on helping him centre himself will be beneficial. He can rejoin the Group when he's made some progress.”

 

Training suddenly got a hundred times tougher. Greg pushed him harder than ever before, all in the name of helping him. He seemed to delight in causing Pietro pain, soon finding out the easiest way to do so was to immobilise him, forcing the energy to build up in his body and denying him an outlet.

 

Pietro didn't even think about complaining. He'd endured worse. He'd already been singled out as needing more help, and he 'd heard the others complaining about their limits being pushed in their own training. Heard, too, the other, older Avengers chuckle and tell them to suck it up.

 

_Wanda was happy. Wanda was safe._ What was a little personal discomfort compared to that?

 

Greg liked to talk at him. It was training, he said, to help him deal with the foul things that any enemy who managed to capture him would say. It was hard to listen to some of the things Greg said, made harder still by the fact that a lot of it was true. He _had_ killed people, he _had_ been a member of HYDRA, maybe he _was_ a monster. He didn't like to think of Wanda being subjected to the same harsh words but she seemed fine. Not like Pietro, who sometimes spent his nights crying over the things Greg said. Yet more proof, he supposed, that he was the weaker twin.

 

_Wanda was happy. Wanda was safe._

 

The mantra marched across his thoughts as he fought against the ropes that bound him to the chair. Greg was training him on how to escape today, although he was offering very little in way of actual instruction. Pietro's head was already foggy, the buzzing need to move crawling across his skin like an electric charge. Greg's hand trailed across his chest, a slow, lingering movement that made him shudder. This was new, and yet horribly familiar.

 

“You know, you have a very pretty mouth...”

 

Pietro's entire body tensed at the feel of calloused fingers brushing against his lips. This was...he'd been here before and he knew what happened next. “No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-no-”

 

Greg chuckled at his weak struggles. “Maybe next time, maggot. There's more than one form of torture to train you to withstand after all.” A knife was thrown carelessly on the floor, barely out of reach of Pietro's bound limbs as Greg walked out the room, leaving Pietro shaken and nauseous.

 

_Wanda was happy. Wanda was sa- -_. Except, she wasn't safe. If they were planning to do this to him, they were going to do this to her. Pietro's attempts to free himself grew desperate. He needed to stop this.

 

Two hours later, he pushed his way into Steve's office, barely registering that Clint and Natasha were there too. All three Avengers straightened up in concern as they took in the pale, clammy skin and the raw-looking rope burns that marred Pietro's wrists.

 

“What the hell happened?” “Are you all right?” “Who did this to you?”

 

“Tell me you're not going to do that to Wanda.” Pietro ignored all three questions, batting away Clint's concerned hands. “I won't let you lay a finger on her that way. I'd die first.”

 

Steve looked confused, Clint looked concerned while Natasha just looked furious.

 

“What way, Pietro?” she asked, carefully, almost as if she was dreading the answer that he would give.

 

“PROMISE ME!” Pietro drew in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “Please,” he begged. “She's never...her first time shouldn't be...please don't make her do this.”

 

Steve looked utterly horrified. “Pietro, I would _never_. No-one would. How could you think that we would...” his voice trailed off as understanding sunk in, pity flashing briefly across his face before being obscured by a fiercely protective anger. “Did Greg - - ?”

 

The way Pietro flinched at Greg's name was answer enough that Steve swore.

Natasha squeezed his shoulder as she stalked calmly out of the room, murder in her eyes, a righteous-with-fury Steve not far behind, leaving Pietro confused and alone.

 

No, not alone. Clint was still there, face ashen, fingers reaching out to hover over Pietro's abused wrists. “Did Greg do this?” he asked gently.

 

“He...he tests my limits. I don't do well when I'm forced to stay still, he was training me to - - “

 

Clint's fist punching the wall stopped Pietro cold. The archer looked like he'd been sucker-punched, his eyes, the ones that seemed a different colour every time Pietro had cause to look at them, filled with pain, guilt and sorrow.

 

“He...that isn't what training is supposed to be, is it?” Pietro hopes he's right, because it means that Wanda was never in any danger. Pietro hopes he's wrong, because that would mean that he'd suffered for nothing. Clint's slow shake of the head was both a relief and a knife to the gut.

 

“He, he would talk about the people that I killed. Maybe I deser - - “

 

“HEY!” Clint's hands are on him, ever-so-gently lifting Pietro's gaze to meet his own. “There is no excuse for what he did. We've all killed people. I've killed more than my fair share. You are not a bad person. You're..jesus, kid, you were ready to give your life for the people of Sokovia, for that boy, for..for me. You are a good person, Pietro, and that..he deserves whatever Natasha has planned for him.”

 

Clint's words are just as hard to hear as the things Greg liked to say. They hurt in a different kind of way, he wants to believe that they're true but... Pietro refuses to cry, has done for a long time, but Clint doesn't seem to have that problem and Pietro is entranced as a tear falls silently from Clint's wide eyes.

 

“Why are you not with her? If you think he deserves what's coming. Don't you want to help?” _Or is it all just pretty lies._

 

“Because I wanted to stay with you. I wanted to be here in case you needed someone. I - -”

 

Pietro's chest heaves, a broken sob tumbling from his throat as he throws himself into Clint's arms, Clint fumbling only for a second before letting Pietro melt into the embrace.

 

Maybe it was time to let someone be there for him for a change. Someone who would worry about Pietro being happy, Pietro being safe. Maybe that someone was Clint.

 


End file.
